Corporation Bank opens 33 outlets in LIC premises

TNNMar 26, 2003, 05.38am IST

MUMBAI: Corporation Bank will on Tuesday inaugurate 33 new outlets within premises of the Life Insurance Corporation. These service outlets, which includes extension counters and automated teller machines are spread across the states of Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. With this, the total number of outlets of the bank in the premises of LIC will reach 63.

Speaking to ET, K Cherian Varghese, chairman, Corporation Bank said that the tie up with LIC has given the bank a foothold in regions where it never had a presence earlier. He added that the relationship would also increase business for the bank as it would get business from the local LIC branch and also from LIC's own employees.

The bank will expand its presence in the LIC premises by opening more such outlets in the coming year with plans to increase the embedded outlets to 100 by June 6 the second anniversary of the tie-up between Corporation Bank and LIC. In June '01 LIC acquired a strategic stake in the bank increasing its stake to 27%.

On Wednesday, the chairman of Life Insurance Corporation SB Mathur will inaugurate a branch and ATM at LIC's zonal office at Annasalai, Chennai where Mr Varghese will also be present. Simultaneously in Mumbai, in LIC's PM Road-Fort premises a branch will be inaugurated by PK Vasishta, managing director of LIC. Other outlets will also be opened at the same time across the country. The total number of outlets of the bank all over the country is expected to cross 1,263 by the end of this month, consisting of 685 branches, 78 extension counters and 500 ATMs. Among public sector banks, Corporation Bank has the second largest network of interconnected ATMs.

Corporation Bank is also looking at boosting its fee-based revenues by selling LIC's insurance policies. The bank has obtained a corporate agency licence for selling bancassurance products and over a hundred officers of the bank have been trained for the purpose of selling. The bank is also distributing the mutual fund products of LIC Mutual Fund.